Electronic Sheepdog: A Novel Method in With UAV-Assisted Wearable Grazing Monitoring

The application of Internet of Things (IoT) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology to help herders monitor livestock makes intelligent and scientific grazing possible. In order to extend the limited functionality of the existing monitoring equipment and reduce the flight time of UAVs, a novel wearable grazing system with UAV-assisted monitoring is proposed in this article. First, the system can monitor physiological parameters, such as running, falling, and feeding, as well as geographic parameters. The acquired geographic location is used to implement electronic fences. When livestock leave a specified area, a voice playback module makes the sound of sheepdogs to drive them back. Then, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) technology is used to transmit data. The monitoring values of physiological and geographic parameters can be displayed on a terminal. Finally, when an alarm goes off, a UAV instead of a herder arrives at the grazing area, where the UAV is used as an auxiliary device. Combining these technologies can realize the design of electronic sheepdogs. A standby algorithm is used to reduce the system’s power consumption. Experimental results show the reliability of livestock posture monitoring high accuracy of the alarm system, and safety of the UAV. Therefore, using a combination of UAV and IoT systems greatly improves the efficiency of grazing monitoring.